Yinka Adegoke has been named deputy editor of Billboard magazine. Adegoke comes to Billboard from Reuters, where he served as senior media correspondent since 2006.

“Yinka is one of the top entertainment business journalists and thinkers in the industry today,” said Bill Werde, Billboard’s editorial director, in a statement. “I’m thrilled to bring him on to lead Billboard’s world-class team of reporters. The hire of Yinka shows yet again that Billboard is a brand that invests in talent to serve our readers.”

Adegoke begins at Billboard September 17.

The lifeblood of Billboard has always been its music charts, like the Hot 100 or Top 200 Albums. Yet, now that Apple has officially killed Tower Records, it’s easy to assume that the Billboard brand is suffering right along with physical album sales.

Not true, says editorial director Bill Werde. With conferences like its upcoming Country Music Summit and cover subjects that keep folks buzzing, Werde says his mag has been able to adapt (thrive, even) with the times.

“I think there’s some important differentiation between what iTunes does and what Billboard does,” @bwerde explained. “I think iTunes is great for measuring immediacy. If you wanna see just a quick thing, like someone was on Glee last night. [To see] how did that song do, the next morning you can go to the iTunes chart and see there was an immediate response.”

In the full video, Werde details more of Billboard‘s cover strategy and reveals whether  he’s Team Kim or Team Nicki.

You can also watch this video on YouTube.

Part 1: Billboard‘s Bill Werde: ‘If You’re Gonna Write About Music, You Better Love It’
Part 2: Billboard‘s Bill Werde Takes On Idol, Reality TV

While Billboard has long been required reading for music industry professionals, its online counterpart Billboard.com has expanded over the years to be more consumer friendly, often covering whatever musical moment is in the zeitgeist.

So, for the second installment of our @MediaBeat interview, we got editorial director Bill Werde to weigh in on music television, like Danielle Staub‘s quest for the Hot 100, and why  American Idol has produced more flops than platinum plaques. (We see you, Taylor Hicks.)

“Once you get off of Idol, it’s just such a fleeting window of opportunity generally,” @bwerde said. “We’ve seen –  and the labels now know — that when you finish second, or third, or fourth, or somewhere in the top 10 on Idol, you’ve had an enormous amount of exposure. But you better get those records out fast because, in like 20 minutes, people are going to forget about you.”

You can also watch this video on YouTube.

Part 1:Billboard‘s Bill Werde: ‘If You’re Gonna Write About Music, You Better Love It’
Part 3: Bill Werde: ‘iTunes’ Success Does Not Equal Billboard‘s Detriment’

Think you’ve got it bad as a writer? Try being a music journalist when not one, but two of the industries you rely on are struggling.

“If you want a career writing about music, my advice to you would probably be medical school, maybe law,” joked Billboard editorial director Bill Werde in our @MediaBeat interview. “Music journalism was one of the hardest hit forms of journalism, I think, because once upon a time, you really needed a critic to tell you if you wanted to spend money on an album… Obviously today, you can hear everything all the time, usually even before it’s released.”

Watch the full interview for @bwerde‘s tips on scoring that Beyonce byline, and to find out why the  Kanyes of the world are making his job (and Matt Lauer‘s) just a tad more, well, interesting.

You can also watch this video on YouTube.

Part 2: Billboard‘s Bill Werde Takes On Idol, Reality TV
Part 3: Bill Werde: ‘iTunes’ Success Does Not Equal Billboard‘s Detriment’